Aurora case study: Dr Mary Collins

I was deeply honoured to be nominated by a colleague from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, a participant on Aurora, to be an Aurora role model. Women in leadership is an area I am passionate about and for the last three years I have been delivering a programme for Women in Leadership in the Middle East, where the challenges for women, and also the opportunities, are significant.

I participated in two development days on the programme; Core Leadership Skills and Adaptive Leadership Skills. My overall experience of being an Aurora role model was extremely positive. I found the programme to be pioneering in so many ways. The carefully crafted cumulative structure underpinned by mentoring allows for rich participant discussions and learning. The guest speaker input is excellent, it was impressive to hear such inspiring senior women in leadership sharing very honest accounts of their personal journeys.

Being a role model is a wonderful way to engage with Aurora. I took many key learnings from the programme to enhance my own development and I do hope the facilitation I provided assisted participants on Aurora with the same opportunity. The materials and resources provided are excellent, a fantastic resource bank to access for the future also.

I believe Aurora is making a real difference to the higher education sector in Ireland by embedding a leadership mindset in talented women as they progress through their careers. One of the most beneficial aspects is the access to a wide peer network of women in the higher education sector. I would highly recommend being an Aurora role model and am most grateful for the opportunity.